STS-98
Report # 07
Saturday, February 10, 2001 10p.m. CST
The crews of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space
Station successfully installed the U.S. Destiny Laboratory onto the
station today in a dazzling display of robotics finesse and
spacewalking skill.
Astronaut Marsha Ivins began the work, using Atlantis' robotic
arm to remove a station docking port, called Pressurized Mating
Adapter 2 (PMA 2), to make room for Destiny. The adapter was removed
from the station's Unity module and latched in a temporary position on
the station's truss. Then, at 9:50 a.m., astronauts Tom Jones and Bob
Curbeam began a spacewalk that continued throughout the day, in tandem
with Ivin's robotic arm work. Jones provided Ivins visual cues as she
moved the adapter to its temporary position, and Curbeam removed
protective launch covers and disconnected power and cooling cables
between the Destiny lab and Atlantis.
Ivins then latched the robotic arm onto the Destiny lab at about
11:23 a.m. Central and began lifting it from Atlantis' payload
bay. High above the bay, Ivins deftly flipped the 16-ton lab 180
degrees, moving it into position to attach to the station berthing
port. At 12:57 p.m., the lab was latched into position on the station,
and soon a set of automatic bolts tightened to hold it permanently in
place for years of space research. The lab adds 3,800 cubic feet of
volume to the station, increasing the onboard living space by 41
percent. The station's mass is now 112 tons. After the PMA 2 docking
port is attached to the lab's end on Monday, the station will measure
171 feet long, 90 feet high and 240 feet wide. It will have a volume
of more than 13,000 cubic feet, already a larger volume than any space
station in history, including the U.S. Skylab launched in the 1970s
and the Russian Mir space station. With the Destiny module secured to
the station, Jones and Curbeam began connecting electrical, data and
cooling lines. While Curbeam was attaching a cooling line, a small
amount of frozen ammonia crystals leaked. However, the leak was
quickly stopped. The ammonia dissipated and vaporized, and it posed no
problems as the crew continued their work. Because of the leak,
however, flight controllers followed a decontamination procedure,
ensuring no ammonia would enter Atlantis' cabin. Curbeam remained in
the sun a half-hour to vaporize any ammonia crystals on his spacesuit
while Jones brushed off the suit and equipment.
Then, the spacewalkers performed a partial pressurization and
venting of the shuttle airlock to flush out any ammonia before a final
repressurization. Then, as the airlock began exchanging air with the
shuttle cabin, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky and Ivins
wore oxygen masks in the cabin for about 20 minutes as a protective
measure, allowing any residual ammonia to be cleansed from the cabin
by shuttle life support systems. In the end, the crew reported no
contamination or smell of ammonia when the inside airlock hatch was
opened and they were rejoined by Jones and Curbeam.
The decontamination procedures lengthened the spacewalk to a final
duration of seven hours, 34 minutes, more than an hour longer than
originally planned, and put the crew behind schedule for the remainder
of the day's work. That work included reopening the hatches between
Atlantis and the station, which occurred at 7:50 p.m. Central. About a
half-hour later, Commander Ken Cockrell and International Space
Station Commander Bill Shepherd began remotely powering up key Destiny
laboratory systems and cooling equipment, sending commands via a
laptop computer. The initial activation of Destiny was successful, and
flight controllers will continue commanding to set up station systems
during the night.
The crew had an extended day, beginning their sleep period almost two
hours later than was first planned. As a result, flight controllers
are planning to awaken the crew at 5:13 a.m. Central on Sunday, an
hour later than originally planned. The crews of Atlantis and the
station will work together throughout the day on Sunday, opening the
hatch into Destiny for the first time at about 8:13 a.m. Central and
continuing to activate its equipment. The Johnson Space Center
newsroom will close at 10 p.m. Central and reopen at 5 a.m. Central
on Sunday. The next mission status report will be issued about 7
a.m. Central time on Sunday.
-end-
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